Homemade Guacamole

Making homemade guacamole can be kinda tricky. Use this simple recipe to achieve the best result.

It's best to make the guacamole the day of the game to prevent it from browning. The extra lime juice prevents discoloration but immediately putting the guacamole into an airtight container also will help the guac stay green.

Cut the avocados in half, twist and remove the seed. Scoop out the insides of the avocados and place in a large mixing bowl. Mash the avocado with a fork until there are no large chunks. Chop the onion, tomato, jalapeño (if you want guacamole with a kick) and cilantro. Add the chopped ingredients to the avocado. Mix well. Cut the lime into two and juice the two halves directly into the bowl. Mix the lime juice well and add kosher salt to taste.

Guacamole can be served as is in the bowl or served more creatively in a bread bowl or in the discarded avacado shells. Accompany guacamole with tortilla chips, pretzels or cut-up vegetables.

Buffalo Chicken Dip

At every party I go to, someone always makes Buffalo Chicken Dip, and it is one of the most quickly devoured. And the funny thing is that it's one of the easiest things to make. Follow this simple recipe and heat right before people arrive. The recipe can easily be doubled for a larger group of people.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, chop up cream cheese block. Add the dressing and wing sauce and mix until almost a smooth consistency. Add the chicken and 1/2 c. of the shredded cheddar cheese and combine ingredients until consistent throughout. Place mixture into a deep baking dish and top with the remaining 1/4 c. of shredded cheddar. Add additional hot sauce if desired. Bake for 20 minutes or until the top of the cheese is melted and dip is heated throughout.

Serve the dip with tortilla chips, crackers, diced vegetables or any combination.

Touchdown Chili

While this chili has a lot of ingredients, chili itself is an easy recipe to make. After a few steps all you do is let the chili sit and cook itself.

Ingredients:

1 can light kidney beans

1 can dark kidney beans

1 can black beans

1 can garbanzo beans

1 can pinto beans

24 oz. can crushed tomatoes

12 oz. can tomato puree

1 large yellow onion, diced

1 green bell pepper, diced

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 jalapeño pepper, diced

1 lb ground turkey

1 lb chicken sausage, chopped

Cumin to taste

Chili Powder to taste

Black Pepper to taste

1 tbsp. olive oil

Set aside a large chili pot for combining the chili ingredients. Chop the onion and peppers and sauté in a frying pan with the olive oil. Once onions are slightly translucent, remove from the pan into the pot. In the same pan, cook the turkey and sausage until cooked throughout, about 8-10 minutes. Add the turkey and sausage to the pot, as well as the crushed tomatoes and tomato puree. Drain the liquid from all five of the beans and add those to the mixture. Heat the chili on medium-low, seasoning with the cumin, chili powder, and black pepper as desired. Serve once the chili is bubbling. Chili can be topped with green onions, sour cream and shredded cheese if desired.

Cocktail Wieners in Sauce

This is the simplest recipe amongst the bunch, but nonetheless delicious. All you need is three ingredients and a crock pot.

Ingredients:

2 lb. cocktail wieners

44 oz. bottled ketchup

7-8 oz. grape jelly

Mix together grape jelly and ketchup inside the crock pot. Add cocktail wieners and coat the wieners with the mixture. Heat on high until the jelly melts, then turn down to low. Serve in crock pot to keep warm.

Taco Dip

Dips are pretty standard Super Bowl food, and the taco dip is key because it does not need to be heated. This recipe is as simple as building the dip in layers.

Ingredients:

16 oz. refried beans

16 oz. sour cream

2 tbsp. taco seasoning

16 oz. jar of salsa

16 oz. shredded cheddar cheese

8 oz. bag of shredded lettuce

6 oz. can of black olives

In a deep dish 8"x8" pan, start the bottom layer with the refried beans. In a separate bowl, mix the sour cream and taco seasoning together and layer the mixture on top of the beans. Follow the sour cream with the salsa, then a layer of shredded cheese. Place the olives on top of the cheese and top the dip with the shredded lettuce. Refrigerate for two hours.

The dip should be served with tortilla chips, but pita chips will also work.

Sliders

Pretty much everyone (besides Vegans) love a mini burger. They have become so popular, in fact, that many bakery brands have started selling mini-hamburger buns in grocery stores. What makes sliders a fun Super Bowl snack is that they are versatile to your taste—you can use ground beef, pulled pork, chicken, fish or veggie burgers as the base of the sandwich, and build as you please. The following is a recipe for a slider made with beef.

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground beef, preferably 80/20

12 slider-sized buns or 6 slices of Texas toast cut into quarters

6 slices of American cheese, cut in half

1 medium-sized yellow onion

2 plum tomatoes, sliced

8 oz. bacon, crumbled

12 pickle slices

6 oz. ketchup

6 oz. mayonnaise

Cut strips of bacon into 1/4"-sized pieces and set in a frying pan on medium-high heat. While bacon is cooking, finely dice the onions. Once bacon is crispy, remove from pan and set to cool on a paper towel-lined plate. Add the onions to the bacon grease and cook until onions are slightly translucent. Remove from pan and also set to cool on a paper towel-lined plate. Form the beef into 12 equal-sized mini burgers, and set up grill for 8-9 minutes or until cooked to your liking. Set platter with the 12 bottom buns and place a dollop of ketchup and mayo on the bottom bun. Add a pickle slice and then top with a mini burger. Top the burger with a pinch of crumbled bacon, followed by a slice of cheese. Top the burger with tomato, lettuce and finally the top bun. Stick a toothpick through the burger to keep sandwich together.

Stromboli

Stromboli is also an easy item to prepare, especially if you use premade refrigerated pizza dough for the crust. Stromboli also impresses people not only for the taste, but because it appears to be harder to make than it actually is.

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. deli-sliced pepperoni

8 oz. shredded mozzarella cheese

1 lb. prepared pizza dough

2 tbsp. olive oil

Garlic salt and italian seasoning to season

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Flour the surface you will be using to make the stromboli on to prevent the dough from sticking. Roll out the pizza dough until a little less than 1/4" thick. Place pepperoni on the rolled-out dough, slightly overlapping and leaving a 1/2" perimeter around the crust. Add cheese and keep same perimeter on outside of dough. Roll each size of the dough inward, turn and roll until closed. Line a cookie sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray. Place stromboli on the cookie sheet and drizzle the olive oil on top of the stromboli. Sprinkle the garlic salt and italian seasoning on the crust and place in the oven. Cook the stromboli for 35 minutes or until golden brown. Cut the stromboli into 1/4" or 1/2" slices and serve on a platter with marinara sauce on the side.

Wings

Boneless wings are easier to eat, but bone-in wings scream football, especially Super Bowl. This recipe is for dry wings, so it's up to you if you want them super spicy, mild or maybe BBQ. You get a lot more bang for your buck making them at home instead of ordering out.

Ingredients:

2 qts. oil, preferably canola

1/2 c. all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp. paprika

1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp. salt

2 eggs

2 lb. mix of winglets and drummettes

Heat frying oil in deep fryer or in a deep pan to 375 degrees or medium-high heat. Combine all the dry ingredients in one bowl, mixing together well. Crack the two eggs in a smaller bowl, whisking until smooth. For each piece of chicken, coat the chicken in the egg mixture and then coat with the dry mix, breading the chicken. Fry the wings in batches to prevent uneven cooking, about 10 minutes or until center of wing is no longer pink. Set to dry on paper towels. Wings can be served dry or tossed in your favorite sauce with dipping sauce on the side.

Pigs in a Blanket

These bite-sized snacks can be prepared well in advance of the arrival of your Super Bowl guests and can be quickly placed in the oven to heat.

Ingredients:

48 cocktail-sized sausages or wieners

2 cans of prepared crescent dough rolls, such as Pillsbury

﻿﻿Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Open both cans of dough and separate them into 16 triangles. Cut each of the triangles lengthwise into 3 narrow triangles. For each "blanket," take one cocktail wiener or sausage and roll from the shortest side of the triangle to the opposite side. Split the 48 pigs in a blanket point side down on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Immediately remove from the cookie sheets and serve with mustard and ketchup as dips.

Season chicken with black pepper and chipotle seasoning. Grill for 8-10 minutes or until no longer pink in the middle, flipping midway thru cooking. When cooked, dice chicken into small cubes and set aside. Dice both peppers and onion then sauté in a frying pan with the olive oil. When onion is somewhat translucent, remove onions and peppers and set on a paper towel-lined plate. In another frying pan, heat the butter until melted, coating the bottom of the pan. Place a flour tortilla round in the pan, and top with the pepper/onion mix, chicken and cheese. Heat until cheese is slightly melted and flip the quesadilla in half. Once browned and cheese is melted, remove from the pan. Repeat with the other seven flour tortillas. Once all the quesadillas are done, cut each into three triangles and serve on a platter with salsa for dipping. Add sour cream and guacamole if desired.